Anchorage news

• Newscast – Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025

  24-12-2025 03:04 via ktoo.org
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251223-News-Update.mp3
  In this newscast:This week marks six months since 42-year-old Juneau resident Benjamin Stepetin was last seen in downtown Juneau.
  The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development found that the Juneau School District did not provide occupational therapy services to some students that were supposed to receive them last school year.
  The next legislative session is less than a month away, and lawmakers are preparing
  
  Read more

• DEED investigation finds some Juneau students did not receive required occupational therapy

  24-12-2025 02:23 via ktoo.org
  The Harborview Elementary School playground on July 9, 2025. (Photo by Jamie Diep/KTOO)
  The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, or DEED, found that the Juneau School District did not provide occupational therapy services to some students that were supposed to receive them last school year.
  According to a report from the department, the district lost an occupational therapist last year and did not follow the correct procedure to ensure students would continue to receive services
  
  Read more

• KTOO and KUAC collaborate to bring WORLD, CREATE, and FNX to a wide audience

  24-12-2025 01:24 via ktoo.org
  Juneau/Fairbanks, Alaska — KUAC and KTOO are collaborating to bring CREATE and WORLD back to viewers around the state via local transmission and the Alaska Rural Communication System (ARCS). Beginning January 1st at 12:01 a.m., viewers throughout Alaska will be able to enjoy significantly more programming that informs, educates, and inspires.
  “During a very challenging period in public broadcasting’s history, it’s a thrill to collaborate with KTOO to make this happen
  
  Read more

• Six months after Juneau man’s disappearance, his family continues to search for answers

  24-12-2025 00:35 via ktoo.org
  A candles burns near a missing person’s poster of Benjamin Stepetin at his brother’s apartment on Thursday, July 3, 2025. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  This week marks six months since 42-year-old Juneau resident Benjamin “Benny” Stepetin was last seen in downtown Juneau. 
  His brother, Martin Stepetin Sr., said his family and friends haven’t stopped looking for him even during the holidays.
  “We just don’t want his memory to fade, or anybody to thin
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• A year before Alaska’s U.S. House election, two candidates are emerging as frontrunners

  23-12-2025 20:26 via ktoo.org
  “I voted” stickers are seen on display at a polling station in Juneau’s Mendenhall Valley on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
  One of Rep. Nick Begich III’s uncles is endorsing his main Democratic opponent, Matt Schultz, in next year’s election. Tom Begich’s name was atop a list released to the Alaska Beacon by Schultz’s campaign this month.
  Begich’s endorsement of his nephew’s opponent won’t s
  
  Read more

• State to overhaul Southeast’s 20-year transportation plan

  23-12-2025 19:12 via ktoo.org
  The Alaska Marine Highway System’s mainliner, the Columbia, during its weekly sailing from Washington state to Skagway in early 2025. (Avery Ellfeldt/KHNS)
  The state is in the early stages of crafting a new plan to guide decisions about Southeast Alaska transit for the next two decades.
  The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities aims to draft a plan for Southeast by the end of summer 2026 and finalize it by this time next year. The document will cover all communities fro
  
  Read more

• Juneau musician ends local organ career with farewell Christmas concert

  23-12-2025 19:05 via ktoo.org
  T.J. Duffy takes in the audience’s applause during an organ concert at the State Office Building in Juneau on Dec. 19, 2025. (Photo by Yvonne Krumrey/KTOO)
  Listen here:
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/22ByeTJ.wav
  After more than 16 years as a staple at Juneau’s State Office Building, a local musician has played his last theater organ concert. In a holiday-themed show on Friday, T.J. Duffy said goodbye to a packed audience filled with longtime listeners and soon-to-b
  
  Read more

• Juneau Afternoon 2025 Holiday Special

  23-12-2025 03:10 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Audio PodcastVideo Livestream
  The Juneau Afternoon 2025 Holiday Special – originally aired on Friday, December 19 at 3:00 p.m.House Band: Luke & Heather (Heather Mountcastle & Luke Weld)Featured Performances:Vox Borealis (Sara Radke-Brown, Tanya Green, David Monroe, Aria Moore, Kristina Paulick, & Jake Soboleff)Theater Alaska’s “A Christmas Carol” (Tom Robenolt as Scrooge, Bryan Crowder as Marley, Flordelino Lagundino)SpruceConversations:Reason for the SeasonR
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Newscast – Monday, Dec. 22, 2025

  23-12-2025 03:05 via ktoo.org
  
  
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251222-News-Update.mp3
  In this newscast:Juneau saw two destructive residential fires in a mobile home park in the course of just three days, and one fire resulted in a fatality.
  A federal grand jury has indicted two Alaska State Troopers shown on body-camera video beating, tasing and pepper-spraying a Kenai man in a case of mistaken identity.
  Juneau residents celebrated the winter solstice with a “light the night” Nordic ski club ga
  
  Read more

• Juneau Nordic skiers celebrate Winter Solstice at ‘light the night’ event

  23-12-2025 01:49 via ktoo.org
  Mary Ann Parke sets off on a ski trail toward Mendenhall Campground as the sun sets on Dec. 21, 2025. (Photo by Alix Soliman/KTOO)
  The darkest day of the year has officially passed. Now, the days are growing brighter. Dozens of Juneau residents marked the occasion at Mendenhall Campground with a ‘light the night’ winter solstice event on Sunday, hosted by the Juneau Nordic Ski Club.
  The sun set just after 3 p.m., casting a stripe of pink and gold alpenglow on the sheer peaks that tow
  
  Read more

• Juneau sees back-to-back house fires in same neighborhood as negative temperatures persist

  23-12-2025 00:57 via ktoo.org
  Firefighters exit a residential fire at the Switzer Village Mobile Home Park in Lemon Creek on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  Juneau saw two destructive residential fires in a mobile home park in the course of just three days. One fire resulted in a fatality. 
  The first fire was reported on Saturday evening at about 7:30 p.m. at the Switzer Village Mobile Home Park in Lemon Creek. Family members reported that 38-year-old Juneau resident Calvin Olsen died in the fire.
  
  Read more

• Author with Y-K Delta roots looks to creativity to support Halong-impacted families

  23-12-2025 00:08 via ktoo.org
  “Aanaq? Am I Your Sunset?” by Lani Hulse was written to support Typhoon Halong-impacted families in partnership with the Western Alaska Disaster Relief Fund. (Lani Hulse)
  When writer Lani Hulse heard the news about Typhoon Halong, she was across the country in Hawaii, where she lives.
  “I just, I couldn’t help with each video that I watched online — people posting about the disaster, and afterwards — I just could not just sit there,” Hulse recalled. &ldqu
  
  Read more

• What goes into keeping Juneau’s streets clear of snow all winter long?

  22-12-2025 22:48 via ktoo.org
  CBJ Streets & Fleet Superintendent Scott Gray. (Courtesy of CBJ)
  When it snows, crews fan out with plows, graders, blowers and more to clear the streets in Juneau. Morning Edition Host Mike Lane recently sat down with CBJ Streets & Fleet Superintendent Scott Gray to learn more about local snow removal operations.
  Listen:
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/21ScottGray-CBJ-Streets-n-Fleet.wav
  This transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity. 
  Mike Lan
  
  Read more

• Alaska Air Cargo delays could mean later Christmas packages for many rural communities

  22-12-2025 19:30 via ktoo.org
  An Alaska Air Cargo freighter arrives in Nome on Dec. 18, 2025. (Ben Townsend/KNOM)
  Christmas presents may be arriving later than expected for many rural communities in Alaska. That’s after Alaska Air Cargo, Alaska Airlines’ cargo-specific carrier, placed an embargo on freight shipments for several hubs across the state.
  According to Alaska Airlines, the embargo began on Dec. 16 and will end on Dec. 21.
  The embargo excludes Alaska Air Cargo’s GoldStreak shipping service, desig
  
  Read more

• Haines writer nabs Rasmuson award for book about hope amid environmental collapse

  22-12-2025 19:26 via ktoo.org
  Caroline Van Hemert, pictured above sailing in Canada’s Northwest Territories as part of a larger trip with her family through the Northwest Passage. The journey will be featured in her upcoming book. (Patrick Farrell)
  Three Haines artists were recently recognized by the Rasmuson Foundation, which announced its Individual Artist awardees earlier this month.
  Shannon Kelly Donahue took home one of the $10,000 awards, which will help fund her work on a personal memoir that involves travel to
  
  Read more

• A Kodiak couple faces possible deportation due to a voter registration error by the state

  22-12-2025 19:20 via ktoo.org
  The ferry terminal at Pier 1 in Kodiak is seen on July 14, 2021. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
  A years-old mistake by the Alaska Department of Motor Vehicles voter registration program has endangered the citizenship of two prominent Kodiak residents and could cause them to be deported, according to a newly filed lawsuit in Alaska’s federal court.
  The suit, filed Thursday by Eva Benedelova and Pavel Benedela in the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska, says U.S. Citizenship and Imm
  
  Read more

• Eaglecrest Ski Area closed Friday and Saturday due to water line break

  20-12-2025 01:41 via ktoo.org
  Skiers walk back from the mountain at Eaglecrest Ski Area on Sunday, Dec. 10, 2023. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  Following a partial opening last week, Eaglecrest Ski Area is experiencing some issues going into this weekend, including a broken water line, a delayed opening of the Ptarmigan lift and a pause in snowmaking efforts.The ski area unexpectedly closed on Friday and will remain closed Saturday due to a large break in its main water line that supplies its lodges. 
  The ski area&rsq
  
  Read more

• Alaska federal employee unions want their rights back. The U.S. House passed a bill to do that.

  19-12-2025 21:45 via ktoo.org
  Moonrise over the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 18, 2021. (Brett Davis)
  WASHINGTON — It’s been a rough year for Alaska’s 15,000 federal employees. Along with job losses and funding uncertainty, in March President Trump signed an executive order to take away union protections from a large swath of the federal workforce.
  But the U.S. House gave public employee unions a ray of hope last week.
  The Republican-led House delivered a rare rebuke of Trump and passed a bill to restore union right
  
  Read more

• Alaska Department of Corrections reports record-tying 18 deaths in custody this year

  19-12-2025 20:14 via ktoo.org
  Goose Creek Correctional Center is seen in fall. (Photo courtesy of Alaska Department of Corrections)
  The Alaska Department of Corrections has reported 18 people have died in custody of the state’s prisons and jails so far this year – on par with the state’s highest death count in 2022. Advocates and lawmakers say the number is “devastating” and “preventable,” and are calling for the reinstatement of an independent oversight body to investigate.
  The coun
  
  Read more

• Alaska Gov. Dunleavy says he’ll propose a property tax break for planned gas pipeline

  19-12-2025 19:44 via ktoo.org
  Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks to reporters during a news conference on Feb. 7, 2024. (Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media)
  Gov. Mike Dunleavy is eyeing a property tax break for the long-planned Alaska LNG project. The Republican governor said he plans to propose a two-mill property tax for the 800-mile natural gas pipeline and associated infrastructure, a 90% lower rate than the state typically charges in property tax for oil and gas infrastructure.
  Dunleavy described his plans in an interview with the A
  
  Read more

• A preview of ‘The Way It Was: The Best of the Bluescast’ with Ed Schoenfeld

  19-12-2025 06:07 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Juneau Afternoon aired on Thursday, December 18, 2025:
  Over the last year, Ed Schoenfeld, with the help of Mike Sikarias, has put together a one-hour special, “The Way It Was: The Best of the Bluescast,” which will air on January 1, 2026, on KTOO at 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. The Bluecast was an Alaska news comedy group from 1979 to 2012. For over 30 years, it was a send-up and commentary on the news and issues of the day. One of the Bluecast’s founders was KTOO Jeff Brown, and o
  
  Read more

• Newscast – Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025

  19-12-2025 03:00 via ktoo.org
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251218-News-Update.mp3
  In this newscast:A civil lawsuit aimed at preserving a historic neighborhood in Juneau is set for trial next summer. Juneau’s city government, meanwhile, plans to demolish the neighborhood before then,
  KTOO spoke with Juneau Fire Chief Rich Etheridge about a recent incident of someone falling through the ice, what to do if it happens, and other safety precautions when venturing out on frozen bodies of water,
  Over a
  
  Read more

• City plans to demolish Telephone Hill neighborhood before a lawsuit to save it goes to trial

  19-12-2025 01:14 via ktoo.org
  Snow covers the Telephone Hill neighborhood in downtown Juneau on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  A civil lawsuit aimed at preserving a historic neighborhood in the capital city is set for trial next summer. Juneau’s city government, meanwhile, plans to demolish the neighborhood before then.
  At a hearing on Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Amanda Browning set the trial date for August 2026. Three longtime tenants of the city-owned Telephone Hill neighborhood filed th
  
  Read more

• Departing fire chief shares ice-safety tips, wisdom ahead of retirement

  18-12-2025 23:45 via ktoo.org
  Tess Hostetter ice skating near Mendenhall Glacier during record low temperatures in Juneau Alaksa, December 19th 2022. (Photo by Paige Sparks/KTOO)With Juneau expecting to see temperatures in the single digits and even below zero this week, residents may be tempted to recreate on frozen lakes around town. 
  KTOO spoke with Juneau Fire Chief Rich Etheridge about a recent incident of someone falling through the ice, what to do if it happens, and other safety precautions when venturing out on
  
  Read more

• Former state medical board member dies in house fire after arrest for child sexual abuse images

  18-12-2025 22:35 via ktoo.org
  Flashing lights atop a law enforcement vehicle. (Valerie Lake/Alaska Public Media)
  Alaska State Troopers said in a bulletin Monday that Dr. Ryan McDonough died in a weekend fire at his home in Wasilla.
  At the time of the fire, McDonough — a cardiologist formerly with Mat-Su Regional Medical Center — was on $50,000 bail after being arrested on Dec. 11 and accused of owning child sexual abuse images.
  The alleged crimes, and the bail posted by McDonough’s wife,
  
  Read more

• Bitter cold and Taku winds are in the forecast for Juneau. Here’s how to stay safe.

  18-12-2025 21:16 via ktoo.org
  Harris Monsef plays hockey on a frozen Twin Lakes in the late afternoon on Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  Officials say to be prepared as Juneau is expected to see frigid temperatures starting this weekend and stretching into the next couple of weeks.
  The National Weather Service issued a cold weather advisory and a high wind warning starting Thursday evening.  
  The forecast shows that a Taku wind event could start as early as Thursday evening. The strongest g
  
  Read more

• Feds charge Soldotna troopers with civil rights violations over violent Kenai arrest

  18-12-2025 20:51 via ktoo.org
  From left, Jason Woodruff, Clint Campion, Joseph Miller and Matthew Widmer participate in an arraignment hearing on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/KDLL)
  A federal grand jury has indicted two Alaska State Troopers shown on body-camera video beating, tasing and pepper-spraying a Kenai man in a case of mistaken identity.
  Former Trooper Sgt. Joseph Miller and Jason Woodruff are each charged with violating the man’s civil rights. Neither were arrested following t
  
  Read more

• Buprenorphine program rollout, St. Vincent de Paul’s Adopt-A-Family Christmas Gift Program

  18-12-2025 06:56 via ktoo.org
  
  
  Juneau Afternoon aired on Wednesday, December 17, 2025:
  Capital City Fire & Rescue will roll out the first buprenorphine program through its Mobile Integrated Health unit, in collaboration with SEARHC and Front Street Clinic addiction experts.
  St. Vincent de Paul is looking for additional sponsors for its Adopt-A-Family Christmas Gift ProgramHoliday Jazz & Classics is a concert featuring national talents Kyle Athade and Eddie Barbash, along with featured local artists, in a holiday fund
  
  Read more

• Newscast – Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025

  18-12-2025 02:59 via ktoo.org
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251217-News-Updates.mp3
  In this newscast:Juneau’s homeless shelter is once again offering daytime meals and other services after stopping them in August due to safety concerns,
  Officials say to be prepared as Juneau is expected to see frigid temperatures starting this weekend and stretching into the next couple of weeks,
  A U.S. Forest Service plan to revamp the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center to accommodate more tourists could be upende
  
  Read more

• Juneau’s homeless shelter resumes day services after months-long pause

  18-12-2025 01:57 via ktoo.org
  Mindy Birk, a longtime Glory Hall homeless shelter volunteer, smiles for a photo on Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  Juneau’s homeless shelter is once again offering daytime meals and other services after stopping them in August due to safety concerns. 
  The Glory Hall’s Executive Director Kaia Quinto said there were multiple instances of violence and threats this summer that put the safety of shelter staff and clients at risk. She said it was getting hard
  
  Read more

• Juneau organist wraps up 16 years of performances with holiday-themed concert Friday

  18-12-2025 01:12 via ktoo.org
  The Kimball organ with its bottom panel removed for tuning in the State Office Building in Juneau on March 6, 2025. (Photo by Jamie Diep/KTOO)
  A Juneau musician is giving his final organ performance in the State Office Building this Friday. T.J. Duffy is retiring after 16 years of live concerts on the nearly century-old instrument.
  The theater organ concert will mostly feature holiday music, according to a press release. He will also perform Christmas carols that audience members can sing along
  
  Read more

• Finalists for new Juneau fire chief present their plans for the department

  18-12-2025 00:26 via ktoo.org
  Capital City Fire/Rescue fire chief finalists Tom Hatley (left) and Sean Wisner (right) during presentations at City Hall in Juneau in December 2025. (Photos by Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/17firefinalists.wav
  Two finalists in the running for fire chief at Capital City Fire/Rescue got a chance to share their vision for the department during public presentations this week. Juneau’s city manager is expected to make a decision next week.
  Finalist Sean
  
  Read more

• Federal lawsuit could scrap Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center improvement plan

  17-12-2025 20:48 via ktoo.org
  The Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center on Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  A U.S. Forest Service plan to revamp the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center to accommodate more tourists could be upended by a lawsuit brought by a nearby homeowner. 
  Katharine Miller has lived in the Dredge Lake area near the visitor center for about 22 years. 
  “It’s my backyard,” she said. “I do spend quite a bit of time there.”
  Last July, she sued the Forest Se
  
  Read more

• Report details threats from a warming Arctic: ‘These changes cascade directly into people’s lives’

  17-12-2025 20:21 via ktoo.org
  A tributary of the Kugororuk River in northwest Alaska runs orange. (Josh Koch/U.S. Geological Survey)
  The Arctic continues to warm faster than other parts of the planet and is seeing record high temperatures and record low sea ice levels. That’s according to the 2025 Arctic Report Card, which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released today.
  For the past 20 years, the report has documented changes in snow and sea ice cover as well as air and ocean temperatures in the nor
  
  Read more

• Alaska studies building a ferry terminal at Hyder to connect to the road system

  17-12-2025 20:05 via ktoo.org
  Hyder is marked in red, located about 70 miles up the Portland Canal.
  The state of Alaska is considering opening up a new ferry terminal in Southeast Alaska, connecting Alaska’s ferries to the Lower 48 road system without going through Canada.
  The idea comes as Alaska continues to struggle with the closure of the ferry terminal at Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Now, the state is conducting a $250,000 study to see if a terminal on Alaska’s side of the border would be a good replacem
  
  Read more

• Alaska Senate Republicans pick Tok Sen. Mike Cronk as new minority leader

  17-12-2025 03:01 via ktoo.org
  Tok Republican Sen. Mike Cronk speaks during a news conference on January 21, 2025. (Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media)
  Tok Republican Sen. Mike Cronk is the state Senate’s new minority leader. The six-member minority caucus in the state Legislature’s upper chamber announced Tuesday its members had elected Cronk to replace former Wasilla Republican Sen. Mike Shower, who resigned to run for lieutenant governor earlier this year.
  Cronk is a former schoolteacher and construction worker who
  
  Read more

• Newscast – Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025

  17-12-2025 03:00 via ktoo.org
  
  
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251216-News-Update.mp3
  In this newscast:Juneau Animal Rescue has finally secured a location for its proposed new animal shelter,
  The state of Alaska is considering opening up a new ferry terminal in Southeast Alaska that would connect Alaska’s ferries to the Lower 48 road system without going through Canada,
  What could be Alaska’s first official hybrid electric fishing boat is one step closer to hitting the water
  
  Read more

• Juneau Animal Rescue’s long-sought new shelter secures location from Assembly

  17-12-2025 01:12 via ktoo.org
  Rick Driscoll, Juneau Animal Rescue’s executive director, holds a puppy at the shelter on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  Juneau Animal Rescue has finally secured a location for its proposed new animal shelter.
  On Monday night, the Juneau Assembly unanimously approved leasing a parcel of city property in the Mendenhall Valley to Juneau Animal Rescue to serve as the site of a larger facility for rescued animals. 
  Rick Driscoll, the shelter’s executive dire
  
  Read more

• Advocates push for drastic measures, as the Western Arctic Caribou Herd drops to a new low

  17-12-2025 00:08 via ktoo.org
  Caribou crossing the Kobuk River as it freezes up during the fall migration. (Used with permission from Jim Dau)
  The latest estimate for the Western Arctic Caribou Herd is 121,000, a steep drop from 2023. The last time the herd’s numbers were this low, Jimmy Carter was president — almost 50 years ago.
  Once one of the world’s largest herds, its range is the size of California, stretching across a large swath of Northern and western Alaska. For the remote communities of the regio
  
  Read more

• Disaster aid deadlines extended into 2026 for those affected by Western Alaska storms

  16-12-2025 19:37 via ktoo.org
  Alaska Organized Militia members, assigned to Task Force Bethel, survey Nightmute, Alaska, while conduct post-storm recovery efforts for Operation Halong Response at Oct. 27, 2025. (Courtesy photo by the Alaska National Guard)
  The State of Alaska and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have extended their deadlines to apply for individual disaster assistance for those impacted by storms in Western Alaska, including Typhoon Halong.
  How to apply for State of Alaska or FEMA individual assistanc
  
  Read more

• Juneau school board contracts with national search firm to find new superintendent

  16-12-2025 03:31 via ktoo.org
  From left, Juneau School Board member Jenny Thomas, Juneau School District Superintendent Frank Hauser and Administrative Assistant Jessica Richmond listen to public testimony during a school board meeting at Thunder Mountain Middle School on Nov. 18, 2025. (Photo by Jamie Diep/KTOO)
  The Juneau School District Board of Education took another step toward finding a new superintendent. 
  At a special board meeting Monday, the board approved a contract with a national search firm to find its nex
  
  Read more

• After veto overrides, Alaska Gov. Dunleavy drops push for major education reform

  16-12-2025 03:15 via ktoo.org
  Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks to reporters ahead of his annual holiday open house on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024 in Juneau. (Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media)
  Gov. Mike Dunleavy is dropping a longtime priority ahead of next year’s legislative session.
  At his annual holiday open house on Dec. 9, the Republican governor told reporters he isn’t planning to revive his push to reform the state’s schools.
  “I’ve always said this, for year after year after year, that once the issue of
  
  Read more

• Newscast: Monday, Dec. 15, 2025

  16-12-2025 03:13 via ktoo.org
  
  
  https://media.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251215-News-Update.mp3
  In this newscast:The Juneau School Board took another step toward finding a new superintendent.
  Eaglecrest Ski Area’s gondola cabins are headed to Colorado next month for repair and paint job.
  An Alaska Airlines flight headed from Juneau to Sika this morning was struck by lightning just before landing.
  Congress approved critical funding for rural schools last week with the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act.
  G
  
  Read more

• Lightning strikes milk run flying from Juneau to Sitka Monday morning

  16-12-2025 03:08 via ktoo.org
  An Alaska Airlines plane prepares for take off at the Juneau International Airport on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  An Alaska Airlines flight headed from Juneau to Sitka on Monday morning was struck by lightning just before landing. 
  Passenger Kathy Fitzgerald was on board the 27-minute flight. She said the plane was briefly engulfed in a bright orange and gold flash.
  “It was like a giant flashbulb going off throughout the whole plane, coming from outside,&r
  
  Read more

• Lighting strikes milk run flying from Juneau to Sitka Monday morning

  16-12-2025 03:08 via ktoo.org
  An Alaska Airlines plane prepares for take off at the Juneau International Airport on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  An Alaska Airlines flight headed from Juneau to Sitka on Monday morning was struck by lightning just before landing. 
  Passenger Kathy Fitzgerald was on board the 27-minute flight. She said the plane was briefly engulfed in a bright orange and gold flash.
  “It was like a giant flashbulb going off throughout the whole plane, coming from outside,&r
  
  Read more

• Eaglecrest Ski Area’s gondola cabins are headed to Colorado for refurbishment

  16-12-2025 01:59 via ktoo.org
  Eaglecrest Ski Area’s gondola in its parking lot on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. (Photo by Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  Eaglecrest Ski Area’s gondola cabins are headed to Colorado next month for repairs and a paint job. Cost for the work and shipping is expected to be around $450,000. The cost to bring other gondola parts to Juneau is expected to be even higher with tariffs. 
  It’s been more than three years since the city bought the used gondola system from Austria. The plan is to have
  
  Read more

• Report documents racial disparities in pandemic death rates in Alaska

  15-12-2025 23:50 via ktoo.org
  A patient receives the COVID-19 vaccine. (Steven Cornfield/Unsplash)
  About one in 500 Alaskans died of COVID-19 between 2020 and 2023. That’s according to an epidemiology bulletin the Alaska Department of Health released Dec. 9, which says there were substantial racial disparities in rates of COVID-19 hospitalization and mortality in the state.
  Early in the pandemic, for instance, age-adjusted mortality rates in the state were about 3.6 times higher for Asian and Pacific Islander people co
  
  Read more

• Judge restores federal funding for museums and libraries, including in Alaska

  15-12-2025 21:38 via ktoo.org
  The Klukwan Library. (Jamie Katzeek)
  Federal funding for libraries and museums has been reinstated nine months after the Trump administration first sought to eliminate the agency that provides that money.
  The initial move sparked concern around Alaska, where dozens of tribes and villages rely on federal dollars to pay staff and offer programming at libraries. At the time, a handful of libraries reported grant cancellations.
  But in early December, the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Ser
  
  Read more

• Alaska Native veterans and heirs race to apply for Native allotments

  15-12-2025 21:02 via ktoo.org
  Photo of Anthony “Bone” Lekanof (Courtesy of Michael Livingston)
  For those who haven’t filed for their Native allotments, Alaska Native veterans don’t have much time to claim 160 acres of federal land. The window for applications closes permanently on Dec. 29.
  ANCSA ended 1906 Native allotment program
  The land grants were part of a government program created over a hundred years ago, to promote homesteads and private property ownership. But the 1906 Native allotment progr
  
  Read more

• Juneau schools are closed Monday due to ongoing snow storm

  15-12-2025 17:13 via ktoo.org
  In this file photo, a bobcat removes snow from a parking lot downtown on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. (Clarise Larson/KTOO)
  Juneau schools will be closed Monday due to weather conditions in the Juneau area.
  A winter storm warning is currently in effect for the Juneau area. An additional 4 to 7 inches of snow accumulation is forecasted.
  After-school activities and events are also canceled. The special school board meeting will take place as scheduled at noon on Zoom.
  City and Borough of Juneau faciliti
  
  Read more

Follow @AnchorageNewsUS on Twitter!